Weller: Marcus’ Motivations

According to Peter Weller, Star Trek into Darkness‘ Admiral Marcus is not dissimilar from a relatively unknown historical figure from the early 1960s.

Like that historical figure, the admiral wanted to strike first and take the advantage that doing so would bring.

“Marcus is no different than Curtis LeMay, with a conscience,” said Weller. “I don’t know if people remember who Curtis LeMay [was], but he hid eighteen nuclear missiles from President John F. Kennedy. He was the guy who wanted to pull the trigger on the Cuban Missile Crisis. If you see Fog of War, it was all about ‘First strike! First strike!’ That’s a warmonger. So these warmongers exist, man, and LeMay personifies that. They were real. They are real. The thing that Marcus doesn’t have is faith in the pacifistic attitude of this particular terrestrial organization because the Klingons are aggressive. A war is coming. They’re encroaching. And what Marcus is thinking is he wants to get a jump on them, just like Curtis LeMay. Anybody who is critical of this, just watch the Errol Morris documentary Fog of War. It’s from 2003, and listen to [Robert McNamara] talk about LeMay.”

“Here are the facts,” said Weller, “as Marcus sees them: ‘The Klingons are coming. They’re aggressive. I don’t believe in the pacifistic whoo-ha, touchy-feely, go-out-five-years-and-explore-brave-new-worlds …horseshit. There’s a war coming on.’ So what I do is I take out the plutonium nukes, if you will, called Khan. I take them out. And I made a mistake. I even say it. So I don’t know what people are missing. He’s a guy who did it, by his own conscience, to protect his own particular world and then realizes that he fucked up. Now, the thing that makes him bad, from a moralistic view, is that he’s willing to sacrifice Kirk and the Enterprise to put this thing back in its shell. And he feels that’s a calculated risk. ‘I was never going to spare your crew.'”

Author

In limited defense of LeMay, more so that cant doesn’t replace thought–a generation that had to fight Wilhelmine Germany for no dang reason other than the Kaiser didn’t really mind going to war, and then was one which had to fight three different foes who also didn’t mind going to war with you if you did not bless their violent territorial expansion, and then–well, since the nations of Eastern Europe have not sent Russia a thank you card yet for the opportunity to spend decades in the Warsaw Pact, I’m just going to call that a conquest by the USSR of peoples who did not wish them there–well, overall, I’m going to cut folks from a certain time period some slack, because it’s not like they were making things up out of whole cloth. The threat had been real in 1914, in 1933, in 1939, and in 1963. I’m naturally happy it resolved itself the way it did in 1989.

We live in the world we live in because rough men stopped even rougher men from triumphing. If someone wishes to spit on them for not being ideal, go ahead, just don’t expect me to stand up and cheer overly much. Bad policy ideas by one side does not mean the other side is pure.

As far as Trek, remember, since Marcus’s office had the NX-1, the pre-Kelvin timeline stands, which means the Romulan War happened.

Except, the NX-01 on the desk wasn’t the NX-01 from Enterprise… So… sure, the pre-Kelvin timeline exists… which was clearly not the prime timeline either… So… sure, the Romulan Wars might have happened… they also might not have. It’s impossible to tell what the past of a timeline we’ve never seen before actually was.

Tim

Well said. Like all of us, Lemay was a flawed character, but he didn’t murder a bunch of people to cover up his actions. The comparrison weak. Further, Fog of Wis poor History, allthough Macnamara refers to hidden Nukes, Kennedy knew abolut them and even refered to them in a speach as his “ace in the whole” the purppose of the secret was to keep the Rusians from knowing about them. To this day, the 10th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom AFB, MT are called the “aces in the hole”.
I liked the Marcus character as a bad guy, but the comparrison to Lemay doesn’t fit.

uzimodem

They should have titled the movie, STAR TREK: INTO LEFTISM. I for one will not watch this abomination. When you have Simon Pegg comparing Cumberpatch’s character like BIN LADEN and saying he is a hero, this is not the TREK I want to see or pay for.

uzimodem

Very true. But Weller, like most liberals in Hollywood, usually stretch the truth to fit their leftist ideology.

John (not McCain)

Feel free to stick with non-leftist movies. I hear some plucky young upstarts are working on another Ayn Rand movie. I recommend you invest heavily.

Kang the Unbalanced

In my experience everyone stretches the truth to one extent or another to fit their world view or further their cause. It’s far from limited to one group or another, or even one person or another. I do it myself. I stretch the truth in order to delude myself that Star Trek fans are more enlightened types who are capable of discussing a film without resorting to petty political bickering. In my own defense, I plead insanity.
Now. I will say this, that Dr. Weller appears to be basing his opinion of LeMay on one primary source, a source in which Robert McNamara of all people is pointing fingers. I find this to be foolish.
McNamara did a lot of this at the end of his life, hoping that people would have forgotten his own role in escalating our happy little foray into Viet Nam. He spent a lot of time and effort shifting blame onto as many others as possible and trying to paint himself as a lone peacemaker trying to stop all those horrible horrible warmongers, when documentary evidence and historical accounts show a very different picture.
Having lived through some of that era, I find the changes between what people on all sides said then, and what they now say that they said, to be both fascinating and unsettling.
With Dr. Weller being a student of history, I’d hope he knows that accepting such a one-sided representation is folly. I now have to wonder though, how much of his own opinion is formed by his having lived through that period himself?
Pardon the lengthy response. It’s one thing the medications simply do not help.

uzimodem

Star Trek Fans are by far more enlightened and more informed and much more intelligent, generally. For me, this latest incarnation of the TREK, which I along with quite a few others, do not care for this “alternate” timeline. This latest movie is a blatant pro LEFTIST movie, and with the remarks made by Pegg, Cumberpatch, Ahbrams and Weller, make me want to see it it less. Again, that is my opinion. So far at least in the USA , we are allowed to have one without being sent to GITMO.

uzimodem

I watch very little of the tripe and fifth that comes out of Hollywood. Most of which no one remembers 6 months or a year later. Feel free to continue to watch that chit. I recommend you invest heavily.

John (not McCain)

Such promise, but turns out to be blank as a fart. Sad, in a way.

uzimodem

Yes it is sad that you had to use the word “fart” to further you idiocy. Keep trying, one day you might be a little smarter then the average chimp.

Mike

Since he’s not turning into a chimp, I think you meant “than”… anyway… moving along…

uzimodem

The “edit” button is wonderful thing is it not? Anyway..moving along…..

Blue Thunder

In one sense I can understand where Admiral Marcus was coming from. He did make a valid point about being ready to take on the Klingon Empire. Unfortunately, he went about it the wrong way. As a result, it cost him his life and his daughter’s respect.

nevilleross

He knows more about history then you do, and all you know about LeMay is what you been trained (some would say brainwashed) to believe.

nevilleross

Where did you get the idea that Weller was a liberal just because he said something that you didn’t like about Curtis Le May? Is everything with you Tea Party people limited to ‘rah rah USA?’

nevilleross

Judging by you, I’d say that they’re mostly close-minded, rigid in their ways, and obdurate as anything.

nevilleross

Here we go again with the pro-Tea Party, warmongering imperialist Reich-wing view of things, and how the USA should conquer everything. How the frack you can even call yourself a Star Trek fan and can hold the Roddenberry ‘vision’ you say Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman don’t is beyond me.

uzimodem

You seem very angry and hostile…..but then you are a leftwing hating puke. So, it figures.

uzimodem

Judging by you, I’d say you are a very intolerant imp unable to deal with dissent or difference of opinion.

uzimodem

Just like you leftwing pukes who come to the conclusions like you? don’t Throw stones in glasses houses boy.

nevilleross

The intolerant one is you, not me. Please stick to watching the old show until your eyes fall out.

nevilleross

Why don’t you ‘move along’ and find something else to watch?

uzimodem

Back again eh, after 1 month? On vacation there dimwit?

nevilleross

Took a little break from the ‘Net, like you should be taking a long break from Star Trek. Still being a racist tool (referring to your avatar)? Looks like many Trekfans like you are just racist morons at heart, and don’t really believe in any of the Roddenberry ‘virtues’ at all (I think that you hate the fact that the characters are a bit too young for you and irreverent for your tastes, in the time-dishonored ‘you crazy kids, get off of my lawn’ tradition.)

uzimodem

Aww, another insipid and inane remark from a true dullard. Back for more are you, race baiter? My “avatar” has nothing to do with “racism” nor more then people like you who used BUSH avatars that looked like Hitler were secret Nazis. You really should get out more, and since you seem to be rather “immature” and ingnorant, perhaps being with adults is not your forte. You crazy kid you!

nevilleross

The’puke’ is YOU, and it’s coming from YOUR mouth, you Tea Party drone.

uzimodem

Back again Leftwing Puke? Don’t you have some riots to do, beating up white folk and pooping on cop cars to do?